Me: I regard Summorum Pontificum’s attempt to make the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (the one said in Latin as distinct from the Ordinary Form said in the local language of the congregation, for all you non-Catholics) widely available as a failed experiment that has only succeeded in enlarging a dangerous tumor in the Body of Christ. That tumor is the embittered nucleus of Traditionalist malcontents who have consistently weaponized the EF against the entirety of the Body of Christ, the Pope, and the human race. Therefore, the EF needs to end and the self-pitying Reactionaries need to decide whether they will attend the Ordinary form with the rest of us vermin they despise or if they too good for the Mass. Enough with this nonsense.
One of the many reasons I think the EF needs to go is that no matter how many times you point out the problem is not the EF but the antisemitic, racist, misogynist, schismatic subculture that has weaponized it is that the response of that subculture is never, “Could we be the assholes? Do we need to clean our own house and repent our abuses and the grave scandal and hurt we do to others?” Instead, it is always and forever “Why are you attacking the liturgy? Why do you hate the Mass?”
Yes. You got me. Clearly I hate the Mass. That is obviously what I am really saying.
Another reason I object to that subculture’s toxicity is revealed in the complaint of a reader who wrote:
Nothing would empower the SSPX and schismatics more than banning EF. Stop fighting liturgical culture wars. If you’re right that the problem is that the EF is being used as a totemic practice to question the post-conciliar authority of the church then driving it underground will deepen that problem. We need to depoliticise and normalise the EF otherwise it will continue to be used by schismatics for their own ends.
I reply: I don’t believe in negotiating with terrorists. Especially those marinating in self-pity. Offer only the OF. Let the sect decide if they love themselves more than the Mass. Enough nonsense.
He responds:
You cheapen your theology and your faith by talking about the 1000 year old liturgy our forefathers used as a bargaining chip for terrosits. That’s exactly what your opponents want. Do better.
Nothing would be better than for Pope Leo perform Pontifical High mass in the extraordinary form and use his homily for his strongest denunciation yet of the war in Iran.
And I reply: A sect whose first and only response to the war is “We won’t give a shit about mass death unless the pope caters to our finicky liturgical demands” is precisely why the fruits of this schismatic sect are evil and it should not be catered to one second longer.
My point is perhaps best illustrated in this story from 1 Kings:
Then two harlots came to the king, and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I was delivered, this woman also gave birth; and we were alone; there was no one else with us in the house, only we two were in the house. And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your maidservant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I looked at it closely in the morning, behold, it was not the child that I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’ ” And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means slay it.” But the other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means slay it; she is its mother.” And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to render justice. (1 Ki 3:16–28)
I think of this story every time some Reactionary tells me that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is just so infinitely superior to the Ordinary Form that all the vermin attend. I have never in in my life met an OF attendee who spends their time comparing and contrasting the OF Mass they attend to the EF. Nobody thinks about it. Nobody cares. The universal attitude of those who attend the OF is, “Go to the Mass you like.” If you prefer the EF, good for you. Whatever floats your boat.
But I can’t tell you how many times I have run into EF people who ring the changes on “I used to go to the OF, but it’s just so terrible and now my eyes are open to the glory of the true Mass and I will never go back! I don’t know what I would do if I had to attend the OF. Real Catholics celebrate the Traditional Mass!”
Casual blasphemy of the OF Mass (or as normal people call it, “the Mass”) is a constant feature of Reactionary piety. When the fruit of your super duper superior Trad piety is contempt for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and of the overwhelming majority of your fellow Catholics, you are not making a good case that the EF is doing Reactionaries any good. That, I repeat for the umpteenth time, is not the fault of the EF. It is the fault of the subculture that has weaponized it. If you would rather cut the Church in half than give up your idolatrous liturgical fetish that teaches you to use it as a sword to divide the Body of Christ, it should be taken away from you till you learn to love your neighbor more than your aesthetic obsessions.
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2 Responses
As a 75 year old cradle Catholic, I remember the Latin Mass. It was no better than the current Mass in the vernacular. People daydreamed and thought of other things during Mass. Most people followed along in English anyway, because translations were in the pews anyway.
The idea that the Latin Mass was some sort of Heaven on earth is absurd. I was there.
I find the Latin Mass beautiful. But I strongly object to anyone telling me it is superior. It is no more superior than iced tea is superior to lemonade. I also find the French and Spanish Mass beautiful. And one of our local parishes even has a Burundian Mass.
Latin is not “God’s preferred language.” Latin is beautiful and has thousands of years of rich history and brilliant theology. But if you don’t actually speak the language, you’re like the beachcomber who has dipped his toes in the surf and thinks he has experienced the ocean.
If the pious really want to help the Mass, there are two things you could do that would have profound benefits for the Church:
One, get rid of the embarrassingly bad music. And I’m not only talking about the boomer praise leaders kumbayahing on their guitars. Yeah, that’s bad. But don’t neglect the blaringly bad organ music limping its way through hundred year old hymns written by Protestants. I know I am an old curmudgeon so a lot of this is just my own personal baggage, but I find the music in most Masses to be more torturous than uplifting. And the sad thing is: It is so unnecessary. Some of the best music ever written over the past 700 years was written for the Mass. Why are we settling for powdery mac and cheese when we could be enjoying gourmet food?
And two, our Initiation process for both kids and adults needs a ground-up re-do. Becoming a Christian is too much like going to the DMV, only with banter and balloons. People come to the Church hoping to experience the Living Christ. Instead they get shallow pamphlets and boring meetings and “let’s all split into groups and share our feelings.” I remember when I went through RCIA decades ago, I entered the Church mostly in spite of RCIA, not because of it. I can totally understand why so many of our young people especially go through the motions to please their parents then leave the Church the day after they leave home.